Rod-lock for card-indexes.



Patented oci. 2a, |902. E. w. woonnuFF.

ROD LOCKFR CARD INDEXES.

(Application filed Jam 28. 1902.)v

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i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND W`. WOODRUFF, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. l

ROD-LOCK FOR CARD-INDEXES.

SPECIFICATION forming' part f Lemiers Patent N0. 712,166, dated 001101081' 28, 1902.

Application iiled January 28, 1902. Serial No. 91,549. (No model.)

To a/ZZwhom it may concer-rt:

Be it known that LEDMUND WQWOODRUFF, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Washington,in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rod-Locks for Card-Indexes, of which the following is a specification. i

My invention relates to rod-locks especially adapted to use in card-indexes where it is desired to secure perforated'cards in the index drawer or case, so that they cannot be carelessly displaced or removed.

The invention has for its objects to provide a rod-lock which is practically all contained within and is removable with the rod, so that the other member of the lock or part which is engaged to hold the rod in place may be simple in form and maybe a simple tube or bushing, Ato generally simplify and cheapen the construction of the lock and render it easy of repair, to facilitate the unlocking and removal of the rod by making the manipulation of the key and the grasping of the rod practically one operation of the thumb and finger, and to enable the rod to be inserted with its head and lock in any position without having regard to what is the top or bottom of the same, enabling the rod 'to be inserted quickly and automatically locked without especial care or precision in such operation.

With these objects in view the invention consistsin the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings a very simplified means for carrying my improvements into practical effect, it being understood that the lock can be made more secure, if necessary, by a duplication or multiplication of the locking-bolt and that the invention is not to be considered as limited in its useful applications to the particular construction which for the sake of illustration I have delineated.

In said drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, partly in elevation,

of a card-index drawer, tray, or case having a card-securing rod and rod-lock embodying my invention. tional view of the lock. Fig. 3 is a similar View in the plane of the key slot or hole.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sec- Fig. i is a cross-section on line IV, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view of the key. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the locking-bolt. Fig. 7 is an end view of the same. Fig. 8 is a similar View of the bolt-securingplate. Fig. 9 is aperspective view of what may be termed a duplication of the bolt for greater security, the bolt consisting of two parts, having different key-engaging surfaces and separately movable. v

Referring to the drawings, A indicates the index-drawer having the front piece a, F the card-supporting follower, and B the card-securing rod, extending longitudinally of the drawer within and near its bottom in the -i usual position, passing through a perforation l inthe front piece and through a perforation f in the follower.

2 is an enlarged boss or head of cylindrical form of tapered or conical form at its inner end 3a, into which the rod B is inserted and i rigidly securedl by screwing, brazing, or other suitable means. The head 2 is preferably solid except as hereinafter pointed out and is adapted to iit closely in a hollow cylinder or bushing 3, which is driven tightly into the perforation l of the front piece. Said bushing maybe considered as the stationary engaging member ofthe lock, its inner end constituting a peripheral bolt-engaging shoulder 4. The outer end of the bushing is beveled or iiared, as indicated at 5. The outer` end of the boss 2 terminates in a knob 6, adapted to be grasped by the thumb and iinger yand having a shoulder 7 opposing and adapted to abut the outer end of the bushing 3.

v 8 is a transverse bolt-chamber of cylin- `drical form, bored in the inner part of the head 2 and fitted with a transversely-movable.A

bolt'O, which is pressed outwardly by a spring 9, seated in the inner part of said chamber.

9a is a shoulder near the outer end of theV bolt,'which is pressed against a circular securing-plate driven into or otherwise secured within the outer end of the chamberrS, flush with the outer surface of the head 2. Said plate isvindicated at 10 (see Fig. 8) and has a perforation ll, through which passes the outer end l2 of the bolt. The end 12 has a iiat sid-e 13 or -is otherwise shaped to be held by the plate'lO from rotation, the perforation y 11 being shaped to correspond with the crosssection of the bolt end 12. The bolt is so situated that when the head 2 is inserted in the bushing 1 until the latter is abutted by the shoulder 7 the bolt end 12 will just escape under the pressure of the spring 9 past the inner end of the bushing, so that the side 13 will engage the shoulder 4. In such operation of inserting the rod the bolt end 12 will be forced back by the `bevel 5.

The key slot or hole formed in the head 2 is shown at 14, extending from the outer face of the knob 6 to the chamber 8.

15 is an inclined key-engaging surface on the bolt C, arranged to be opposite the inner part ot the key-slot.

The key is shown at D, (see Fig. 5,) shaped to t closely in the slot 14, so that as it is inserted it will be held by the Walls of the slot from any movement in directions longitudinal of the bolt. Therefore when the inner end 16 of the key encounters the surface 15 Vbolt from the shoulder 4 of the bushing. The

lock is then in position to allow the Withdrawal of the rod B by pulling outward on the knob 6. At the instant of the unlocking` operation it is desirable to have the thumb and finger in position to grasp the knob 6, and to this end the key is formed with an enlarged head 17, arranged to be close to the knob (i at the instant when the key effects the unlocking, whereby the thumband nger Without releasing their pressure upon the key may slide on the head 17 of the key sufficiently far toward the knob 6 to grasp the latter and withdraw the rod while the bolt C is retracted.

My invention extends to and includes making the bolt C in a plurality of sections for the purpose of adding to the security of the lock. In Fig. 9 I ,have indicated such a bolt composed of sections c, each having a keyengaging surface c. These surfaces differ slightly in position, and the end of the key is correspondingly shaped to cause said sections to be simultaneously disengaged from the shoulder 4. A key not properly shaped will not canse such simultaneous disengagement and will not operate the lock.

The engaging members 4 and 12 are inclosed by the inclined covering-plate 18, fixed Within the case A, so that the lock can be operated only through the slot 14.

Provision is made for repairing the spring or bolt, enabling these parts to be readily removed from the chamber 8 by a small aperture 19 at the inner end of the chamber, through which a punch may be inserted to drive out the bolt and plate lO.

What I claim is- 1. In a card-index a rod-lock consisting of the combination of a card-securing rod having a head, an inwardly and outwardly movable bolt mounted in said head, said head having a key-slot in its outer end extending to the bolt, and a card-holding case having means for supporting the rod longitudinally therein and a shoulder adapted to be engaged by the bolt, said bolt having means whereby it may be retracted into said head by a key in said slot.

2. In a card-index the combination of a cardholding case having means for supporting a card-securing rod longitudinally therein, the said rod having an enlarged head and formed with a transverse bolt-chamber and a keyslot extending from the outer end of the head to said chamber, a transverse spring-operated bolt in said chamber and a shoulder on the case adapted to be engaged by the bolt.

3. In acard-indexthe combination ofacardholding case having means for supporting a card-securing rod longitudinally therein, the said rod having a head, an inwardly and ontwardly movable bolt contained in said head, the bolt having an inclined key-engaging surface and the head having a key-slot extending from the outer end of the head to said inclined surface, and a key having at its end a bolt-operating surface, and a shoulder on the case adapted to be engaged by the bolt.

4. In a card-index the combination of a cardholding case having means for supporting a card-securing rod longitudinally therein and a peripheral locking-shoulder, the said rod having a cylindrical head adapted to be inserted in the case and a key-slot extending inward from the outer end of the head, a spring-operated bolt contained within the head at the inner end of the slot and adapted to be projected to engage any part of said peripheral shoulder, and a key for disengaging the bolt.

5. In a card-index the combination of the case, the rod mounted longitudinally therein and having a cylindrical head, the cylindrical bushing 3 in the case having a peripheral boltengaging shoulder 4, an inwardly and out- Wardly movable bolt mounted in said head and adapted to engage the shoulder 4, the head having a key-slot, and a key fitting the slot and adapted to operate the bolt.

G. In a card-index the combination of the case, the rod mounted longitudinally therein, the head on said rod having a key-slot, a rodlocking bolt in the head operable by the inward thrust of the key, and the said key having an enlarged head adapted to separate the thumb and finger of the operator, the rodhead having a knob adapted to be grasped by the thumb and finger while also holding the key-head.

7. In a card-index the combination of a cardholding case, a card-securing rod therein, the head on the rod having the chamber 8 and the key-slot, the bolt-spring 9, and the bolt C" in said chamber, said bolt having the smaller outer end 12, and the plate 10 surrounding said end and fixed in the chamber 8, substantially as set forth.

IOO

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8. nacard-index the combination of a card- In testimony whereof I afx my signature holding case, the card-securing rod having an in presence of two Witnesses. enlarged head terminating in a knob, and a locking-bolt in said head, said knob being EDMUND W' WOOD RUF F 5 formed with a concave front face and the Witnesses:

head having a key-slot extending from said H. N. LOW,

concave face to the bolt. 1 GEO. B. PITTS. 

